TOKYO, Oct 6, 2023 (AFP) – A Japanese climate group has filed a petition to stop advertisements by the nation’s biggest power company using the phrases “zero-emissions thermal power” and “CO2-free fire.” Jera, Japan’s largest coal-fired power generation company, plans to use ammonia alongside fossil fuels to generate power at its existing plants and reduce its carbon emissions. But NGO Kiko Network has said the company’s ad campaign fails to mention that the production of […]
Tag: Japan
Fukushima wastewater release resumes, despite China’s condemnation
By Tomohiro OSAKI TOKYO, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Japan began releasing the second batch of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday, an incremental step in a decades-long process that has drawn strong condemnation from China. The discharge, a small portion of the 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater built up since a tsunami struck the facility in 2011, began at 10:18 am (0118 GMT), a spokesman for operator TEPCO told AFP. While […]
Japan sees hottest September since records began
TOKYO, Oct 3, 2023 (AFP) – Japan has seen its hottest September since records began 125 years ago, the weather agency said, in a year expected to be the warmest in human history. The scorching September’s average temperature was 2.66 degrees Celsius higher than usual, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Monday. This was “the highest figure since the start of statistics in 1898”, the agency said in a statement. This year is expected to […]
Zookeeper dies after apparent lion attack in Japan
TOKYO, Sept 29, 2023 (AFP) – A zookeeper at a Japanese safari park died after a lion apparently attacked him as he tried to bring the animal to its cage, police said Friday. Kenichi Kato, a 53-year-old worker at Tohoku Safari Park in the Fukushima region, was found bleeding from his neck and unconscious inside the lion’s cage Thursday afternoon, a local police spokesman told AFP. “It is believed that he was feeding a lion,” […]
Second round of Fukushima wastewater release to start next week
TOKYO, Sept 29, 2023 (AFP) – Japan will begin releasing a second batch of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant from next week, its operator has said, an exercise that angered China and others when it began in August. On August 24, Japan began discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater that has collected since a tsunami crippled the facility in 2011. “The inspections following the first release have […]
Japanese royal couple in Vietnam to mark 50 years of ties
HANOI, Sept 21, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko were welcomed Thursday in Hanoi by lines of flag-waving schoolchildren, as they began a visit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations. The royal couple laid wreaths at the mausoleum of late president Ho Chi Minh, before heading to the former home — a traditional stilt house — of the revolutionary leader and feeding fish in a […]
Tokyo Game Show back with a bang
TOKYO, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – The Tokyo Game Show is back in full swing after the pandemic, one of the sector’s biggest trade fairs with 200,000 visitors expected over four days. AFP looks at the main trends at this year’s event, which throws its doors open to the public this weekend in a huge convention centre in Chiba, outside Tokyo. – Mobiles to PCs – Mobile games account for 60 percent of sales in […]
Bank of Japan maintains easy money policy
TOKYO, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – The Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-loose monetary policy Friday, though officials face increasing pressure to turn more hawkish as the yen weakens and after fresh data showed inflation remained stubbornly high. While most other major central banks have pressed ahead with a campaign of interest rate hikes in a bid to tame prices, the BoJ has refused to shift from its long-term programme of sub-zero borrowing costs […]
One in 10 Japanese are older than 80: government data
TOKYO, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – More than 10 percent of Japanese people have crossed 80 years or older for the first time, new official data showed, as the nation faces a rapidly greying population. Government data released on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s “Respect for Aged Day” national holiday, also showed that the share of Japan’s population at 65 or older expanded to a record 29.1 percent from 29.0 percent a year ago. The level […]
Japan PM to replace foreign and defence ministers: reports
TOKYO, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to replace his foreign and defence ministers in a major reshuffle that will increase the number of women in cabinet posts, reports said Tuesday. Kishida, who took office in October 2021, has seen his popularity as well as his standing within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party sag ahead of a party leadership election next year. The changes, expected to be announced on Wednesday, […]
Embracing extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – September 6, 2023
Heat records topple across sweltering Asia
BANGKOK, Sept 1, 2023 (AFP) – Temperature records are being toppled across Asia, from India’s summer to Australia’s winter, authorities said Friday, in fresh evidence of the impact of climate change. The sweltering temperatures match longstanding warnings from climate scientists and come as countries from Greece to Canada battle record heat and deadly wildfires. In India, the world’s most populous country, officials said this August was the hottest and driest since national records began more […]
